Comments

Comment by coolguyry

Comment by tonydizzle

So glad to see these weapons being brought back. I have the original Bloodlord's Defender in my bags right now. Used it to tank heroic Anub'arak :P

The design of the weapons from ZG were some of my favorites ever. I wish they would bring back a version of Halberd of Smiting... And make it a str polearm please! Sigh... one can hope...

Comment by 9mmx19

I want them to bring back the Warblades - I never got those... :[

Comment by rnbw

Reforged correctly it will have about 37 mastery, and leave 92 of either dodge or parry, and about 55 of the other, so a total of 147 avoidance rating (note: I'm not sure which way the game rounds while reforging, up or down, but the 1 point difference is negligible). Let's compare this to a few other weapons.

The best tank weapon from heroics: Elementium Fang has 86 parry and 86 mastery, the differences with this one are:+9 strength+13 stamina+61 avoidance rating-49 mastery

In many cases I think Elementium Fang is inferior to this weapon. The extra block is nice since block is a shield tank's best stat, but this just has more avoidance, and an extra bit of stamina as well. You'd have to check rating conversions though to see which one is actually better. I might prefer Elementium Fang on a paladin since the mastery just gives so much more block.

A previously quite good (but in my eyes never worth the money) Bind on Equip: Soul Blade, which has 97 hit rating and 97 mastery rating, reforged about 39 avoidance rating and 58 hit rating, keeping the mastery. Differences with this one are:-8 strength-12 stamina+108 avoidance rating-48 mastery-58 hit rating

This is a very close call, because even though Soul Blade has more mastery, this one has so much more avoidance. The hit on Soul Blade is negligible, because it's not an avoidance stat. I'd say they're very close.

Another possible tank weapon from the new Zandalari heroics is: Renataki's Soul Slicer, which has 95 expertise rating and 88 mastery rating. Reforged that would be about 38 avoidance rating, leaving 57 expertise rating and keeping the mastery. In comparison to this one:+0 strength+0 stamina+109 avoidance rating-51 mastery rating+57 expertise rating

As you can see, it has a good chunk of mastery rating more than this weapon, but the huge amount of avoidance on this one just can't be ignored. It's more than twice as much in ratings. This one wins hands down (which is to be expected of a weapon of the same item level with pure avoidance and no wasted stat points on threat stats).

For fun, let's look at another weapon which drops from raids: Mace of Acrid Death, which has 97 avoidance rating and 97 mastery rating. Perfectly itemized, we don't have to reforge for this comparison:-8 strength-12 stamina+50 avoidance rating-60 mastery rating

As would be expected from a higher item level weapon with just perfect itemization, Mace of Acrid Death is much, much better. It has way more mastery and also has a bit of extra stamina. Simply no match here. :)

PS.I'm just comparing the basic rating stats, but figure out for yourself which item is actually better for you. This can depend on your class (Warrior/Paladin) and current avoidance stats. Sometimes it might seem clear that a weapon is better, but in fact it's not, especially considering diminishing returns. More often than not, a little bit of block is better than a bigger amount of avoidance, simply because there are no diminishing returns on block and smooths out damage so well. And remember: higher item level doesn't necessarily mean better item!

Comment by Ithuraen

I dunno, I still think expertise and hit helps for tanks, and to disregard DPS completely seems a little short sighted.

As you said though, each tank is different as are their needs.

Comment by rnbw

I dunno, I still think expertise and hit helps for tanks, and to disregard DPS completely seems a little short sighted.

As you said though, each tank is different as are their needs.

Expertise and hit help insofar that they provide extra threat, but that threat is not needed at all. In only about 346 gear on my alt I can tank a boss with a Fury warrior doing 20k dps and not even nearly pulling aggro (just 1% hit and about 6 expertise). Threat is currently just not an issue at all. Because of that, you do not want to seek threat stats. If you have the choice between an item with expertise and mastery or a piece with avoidance and mastery, always go for the latter. Avoidance stats and especially mastery are just simply so very much better than any threat stats. If you have a good rotation or know what you're doing, you wouldn't need any threat stats at all.

Also weapon DPS is a threat stat, and is only a minor difference between 346 and 353 and between 353 and 359. Between 346 and 359 there's a bigger difference, but it remains a threat stat.

Comment by Glyfen

No one seems to have mentioned the most important part of this weapon!The glow from enchantments is eye-numbingly massive on this thing. Having Avalanche on it causes it to become a giant cloud of icy mist that leaves a gigantic trail behind me! Might keep this thing just to mess around with some of the cooler glows in the game.

Comment by Mageonius

is this viable for dk tanking if i dual wield them?

Comment by Chompz

Simply put, no. (But that's just opinion) Dualwielding requires far more hit/expertise, and 2handed weapons just give better stats for classes that use them. I would suggest going for Reforged Trollbane instead, and putting Rune of Swordshattering on it for the flat 4% parry, since Stoneskin is a bit underwhelming. You could also put Fallen Crusader on it(heal and strength = parry) but ultimately, that just comes down to opinion I suppose.

Comment by Scharr

In my current gear, a mix of Troll Heroics and blue ilvl 346 gear, this weapon, after reforging, provides less total avoidance than the Heroic Elementium Fang, by about 0.34%

Not a massive number, but noticeable.

Comment by Rhumor

Could be my bad luck, but im having extremely low drop-rate on this weapon.. About 15 kills and i've seen it exactly 0 times. RNG is RNG, or is it?

Comment by Simbasimba42

I'm suspicious that the drop rate on this has changed- Obviously, RNG is fickle, but I have now killed this boss 29 times and never seen this drop, at all. Either I have -hideous- luck or the item droprate is NOWHERE near 20%.

Comment by kezzi

17 runs - still havent dropped for me :(

Comment by PhoenixCry

You will have to give an arm and a leg, donate your left nut to science, then sacrifice your first born child...Then and only then will this sword finally THINK about dropping

Comment by taurenmoo812

If anyone was hoping that, just like how Twinblade of the Hakkari/twinblade-of-the-hakkari is a dagger that sheaths on the back, and shares the same design as these wondering if these swords will do the same, they will not, just like all other swords, these sheath on the hip.